Even when you were dead through your offences and sins, wherein you walked for a time, according to the course of the world, after the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of unbelief; among whom we also all had our manner of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, as well as others; but God, who is rich in mercy, through his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, has quickened us together with Christ, by whose grace you are saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5)

We have seen already that to fully understand God's infinite goodness, we must always consider what we are ourselves, and what our state is until God has pitied us and succoured our wretchedness. Until men have examined themselves and understood how wretched and miserable they are, they will never yield God the hundredth part of the honour that He deserves. Therefore, let us remember well this lesson: to yield God the praise due to Him, each of us must consider what we would be by ourselves if God had not reached out His hand to us. And truly, what is our nature in general? It is to think nothing but all manner of evil, and that is the matter which St. Paul addresses here.

In the first chapter, the matter St. Paul continually addressed was that we cannot sufficiently exalt our God, considering the mercy He uses towards us. Now, to better express this and to touch us more deeply, he shows us, as in a picture or a mirror, what men are until God has prevented them with His grace and called them back to Himself. Therefore, he shows that we are plunged into such a horrible dungeon that merely thinking of it ought to shock us and make our hair stand on end. For surely, we must be moved and inflamed to bless God's name for seeking us in the depths of Hell to draw us up to the kingdom of Heaven.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, to show in what state He finds us, says that He has come so that the dead should rise at His voice. You see then, that the office which the Son of God takes upon Himself is to draw us from death to life by the doctrine of His Gospel. Accordingly, He adds that those who believe in Him have passed from the death in which they were held down and have entered into the heavenly life. Not that the faithful already enjoy it here, but because they possess it in such a way by hope that they are thoroughly assured of it.

When our Lord Jesus Christ says that His voice has the power to raise the dead, He uses a similitude. For whatever life we imagine ourselves to have, if we are separated from God, we are in spiritual death, no matter how much unbelievers imagine themselves to be more than alive in their own wisdom and virtue. They harden themselves and boast to the utmost. But let us see where the wellspring of life is. It is in God, and they are alienated from Him. Also, let us see what the true life of man is. It is not that he should be subtle and fine-witted, able to manage his matters well in this world by his own cunning and policy, purchase himself renown, or be wise and well-advised to give counsel to others. It is not that he should excel in all human sciences and arts or be esteemed and renowned as a man of noble courage or as one possessing other virtues commendable among men. It is a higher thing that we must begin with, namely, to know that God is our Father, that we are defended and preserved by the light of His word, and enlightened by faith to know the way of salvation. We must assure ourselves that our whole welfare lies in Him, seeking it there with all humility, and also know the means to attain it: that is, by having our Lord Jesus Christ in whom the whole fullness of grace is offered to us.

Thus, you see what the spiritual life of man is and where it lies: namely, in the light of God's word and in the working of His Holy Spirit, so that we are refashioned according to the image that was lost and utterly defaced in us by Adam's sin. Is that to be found among worldly men? Even among those most honoured? No, surely. Therefore, it is not without cause that our Lord Jesus uses this similitude, saying that we are raised from death by means of the Gospel. For no matter how much we flourish, bear a fair gloss before men, and seem to have much for which to be held in esteem, we are but wretched corpses. There is nothing but rottenness and filth in us, God loathes us, we are damned and forsaken before Him, the angels abhor us, all creatures curse and ban us, and all things ask vengeance upon us because we defile them. There is such corruption in man that heaven and earth must be infected with it until God has changed them.

The meaning of our Lord Jesus Christ's saying is that until we are renewed by the Gospel through the faith that proceeds from it, we are as dead men. There is not one drop of life in us that deserves the name of life. In short, we are as good as buried in our graves and must be brought out of them again, by which we understand that we are cut off from God's kingdom and that there is nothing but filth in us. Yet, God deigns to be united with those who put their trust in Him and His goodness. That is our rising again.

In short, we must always consider that man brings death with him even with his birth. Not only because he is mortal but also because he is separated from God. We are mortal beings, and it is so even in the respect that we must pass through this world and depart from it whenever it pleases God. But we are also dead beforehand. And how is that? Because our souls are altogether sinful. There is neither thought nor affection in us that does not tend toward evil; all is repugnant or rebellious against God and the rule of His righteousness. When we imagine one thing or another, we can never devise anything in our minds but sin and unrighteousness, as it is said in Genesis that God knew that all that man had in his thought and imagination was sin. Now, since it is so, let us understand that although we had knowledge of good and evil and had far greater skill and discretion than we have, we are so marred that all our desires and lusts rebel against God, as if to make war against Him. Seeing then that we are so corrupted in our souls and that there is neither thought nor affection which is not utterly wrong, let us not think it strange that God, with His own mouth, declares us to be dead, despite our foolish overweening imagination that there is some life in us.

That is the very thing that St. Paul addresses now, saying that the Ephesians were partakers of the aforementioned grace, though they were dead through their own sins and iniquities. As if he should say, "To the intent you may better appreciate the value of God's grace and what it brings with it, think not only upon your present state but consider that if God had left you as you were of yourselves and had not helped you at all but had let you follow your own ways, you would have been undone. Consider what your nature is, for you were dead, and there was no hope that you should be quickened again because it is not in the power of man's own free will to give himself life again when he is once dead. Know therefore that God drew you out of the dungeon of all destruction, yea, rather out of the bottom of hell, when He deigned to adopt you to be His children and to call you to the knowledge of His Gospel."

We see that this saying of St. Paul's is conformable to the doctrine and record of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, let us always run back to the wellspring whenever we are tempted to glory in our own virtues and imagine ourselves to possess something worthy of advancement. Let us return to our natural state and consider that we would have been undone, and still would be to this day, if God in His infinite mercy had not drawn us out of the confusion in which we were ensnared, delivering us by means of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is purposefully stated "in offences and sins" to stop all men's mouths, so that no one might withdraw themselves from the common array or think that anything is as grievous as the corruption of our nature, which can only be stopped by death. If St. Paul had set down only one of the words, either "offences" or "sins," immediately there would have been answering and replying. Some would have thought themselves exempt from the common array, and others would have said, "Very well, though there is some sin in us, though there is some fault in us, it does not therefore follow that we are utterly condemned and cursed by God. Will He use such rigour and extremity against us?"

But St. Paul has joined both words together to show that there is nothing in our nature but wickedness and sin, and in short, that there is not one drop of life to be found in it. Therefore, it is as though he meant to aggravate or make the matter heinous, which men would on their part make light. For if we have even a small portion of virtue, or even a shadow of it, we will exalt it above all the mountains of the world. But if there are any vices in us, though they be ever so gross and apparent, we make very light faults of them. Therefore, it was necessary for St. Paul to beat down this presumptuousness of men and to show them that they are wholly steeped in sin. Although he speaks here to the Ephesians, he speaks generally to all men.

In truth, he expresses it better by saying that we walked according to the course of the world. For the evil lurks unobserved until it reveals itself by its fruits. The reason why men cannot humble themselves before God as they ought is that they flatter themselves until they are convicted and are compelled to bow and lower their heads despite their resistance. We see what hypocrisy is in us, insomuch that we would persuade ourselves that black is white and never find ourselves at fault as long as our misdeeds cannot be laid open to our faces, nor any man stop our mouths by proving them to our heads.

To have many wicked thoughts, or to be tempted to do this or that evil, we think it is no sin at all. In short, St. Paul has justly stated that the Ephesians walked in their sins to show that he speaks not of a matter which ought to be unknown to them. For in beholding their own lives, and what they had been, and what path they had followed, they should be driven to confess that they were utterly forsaken and cursed before God. Therefore, whenever our hypocrisy hinders us from submitting ourselves to God and from humbling ourselves by acknowledging our sins, let us learn to look into our lives. Truly, although we perceive a million faults that we have committed, it is nothing in comparison to what God knows. Yet, to awaken us better, so that we may not be deceived by our own self-soothing, as we have been wont to be, let us always judge the root by its fruits. Seeing then that we are guilty of offending God in so many ways, let us conclude that there is nothing but frowardness in our nature.

To show better that he speaks not here of any one sort of men, but of all mankind, St. Paul adds that it was according to the course of the world. The word he uses here signifies the course of time. As if he should say, just as we see the sun daily rise and set, and as we see winter and summer follow one another, so it is an ordinary custom, yea, even the nature of man, to be utterly froward, spiteful, and rebellious against God, and there is nothing in him but all manner of lewdness and corruption. It is not for men to say, "Hush, evil custom has gotten the upper hand." And again, "This serves for some men, but not all do so. There are some nations more sinful than others, and some men more stubborn and malicious than others, but yet there will always be some virtue found in some other men." No, says St. Paul, for it is the common course of the world. As if he should say, it is so natural (to all men) that there is no disputing whether one man is bad and another good. For just as a fish is made to suck up water, so are we suckled, or rather made drunk with all manner of iniquities and sins. We are so filled and stuffed with them that we burst again.

Thus you see how St. Paul meant not to rebuke one sort of men, but to show all men without exception what their state is until God has redressed it. Therefore, let us open our eyes and look into the thing that St. Paul says, and we shall perceive that all our worthiness and nobleness is described here. Here our arms are blazoned: that is to say, we are but dead men until God quickens us by His mere grace. Again, to the end that we should know this death proceeds from nowhere else but our own sins, it is said that we are all corrupted, that there is nothing in us but faults, sins, and offences, and that our whole life bears record thereof, so the fruit shows what the root is. And on the other side, that our deviation is not just for once and no more, but that we wholly tend towards evil. We are inclined thereto, nay rather, we are carried headlong into it, and we are driven with such a rage that we never cease striving against God until He has brought us into subjection to Him by His Holy Spirit.

And St. Paul thinks it not enough to say so, but adds things which ought to make us tremble yet more, saying that it is according to the prince of the air, according as he has all power in the world, according to the spirit that rules all the unbelievers. His talking in this manner is to show that until God has quickened us by means of our Lord Jesus Christ and until He has gathered us unto Him, the devil has dominion over us. See, I pray you, what the dignity of men is until Jesus Christ has ransomed them. They do not die once and away, but everlastingly, and He must be fain by His Gospel to make them partakers of the salvation which He has purchased for them.

Then, until God has worked in us by His grace, whose are we? The devil's: he is our prince. To be short, he has all authority over us and rules us with such tyranny, as there is nothing but hauling of us to him by force.

But St. Paul uses this word "Spirit" purposely, to show that the devil rules all our thoughts, all our affections, and all our desires, that he possesses us, and that we are all wholly his bondslaves. In a word, we cannot stir one finger, we cannot once move, we cannot think one thought, but the devil is at our elbow and hauls us in such wise that we utterly become deadly enemies to God. When we hear these things, it is no time for us to fall asleep and flatter ourselves, nor to be so lusty and presumptuous as to go to law still with God, as though there were some goodness in us, and that He were bound to acknowledge our virtues.

Must not men be too far out of their wits when they continue still in their hypocrisy, and will need to stand to their tackling against God and win Him by their replying after the Holy Ghost has thundered so dreadful and horrible a sentence upon our heads? Then, if a man be considered in himself and in his own nature, what shall he be able to say? Behold, a creature cursed of God and worthy to be cast out of the common account of all other creatures, even of worms, flies, lice, and vermin. For there is more value in any vermin in the world than there is in man. For man is a creature wherein God's image is defaced, and the good that He had put in it, corrupted. There is nothing in it but sin, insomuch that we are the devil's limbs, and he not only rules us but also possesses us and is our prince.

Are we once thoroughly persuaded of this in our hearts? Shall we not, on the one side, have cause to run quaking to our Lord Jesus Christ and to hold us shrouded under the shadow of His wings? And on the other side, must it not need to be a beastly blockishness if we are so thankless as not to magnify God's goodness in that He has drawn us out of such a dungeon unto Himself, to make us fellows and brethren not only of the angels of heaven but also of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of glory? By this means, He puts away all reproach and, instead of being hateful to all creatures, makes us bear His mark and be honored and embraced by the angels as their brethren and to be avowed by our Lord Jesus Christ as members of His body. So then, now we see St. Paul's meaning.

And further, to the intent that all replying should cease, he shows what the power of the devil is. For he could have said in one word, "You have lived after the manner of the world," which means devilishly. But instead of naming the devil in one word, he says first, "according to the prince that has his power in the air," and "the spirit that works even now in the rebellious children." In saying, "the prince that has his power in the air," he disheartens us of all hope. For it is not for naught that the devil is named the prince of the world. Yet, it is not because he reigns over the sun, the moon, the stars, the skies, and the earth, but because he holds us captive in his bonds because we are not worthy to be governed by God. If Adam had continued in the soundness wherein God created him, God would have held us as His children. But after the fall of our first father, God left us, and Satan took possession of us.

It is true that Satan cannot do anything at all without God's leave. For when he is named the prince of the world, it is not meant that he fights in such wise against God, as if it cannot be known who is the stronger. That would be a cursed blasphemy, like these heretics who, seeing such phrases in the scripture, have imagined that the devil sometimes resists God, and that he has such force and power that God is sometimes compelled to give him place. But such words are stark madness. Nevertheless, this sovereignty of Satan is God's just vengeance. As it is said, He delivers us into the hands of our enemies when we cannot abide that He should reign over us. And so is that thing fulfilled and verified in us all. Forasmuch as God has printed His mark in us, we ought to be governed by His spirit. But our father would need to exalt himself, he would need to set up his bristles against God, and he was not contented with his own state and bounds. Forasmuch therefore as he rebelled in that wise and could not find in his heart to abide the sovereign dominion of God, he was given up to the devil and made subject to him. Forasmuch as he could not abide that God should reign over him, he was fain to have another master, and that subjection must reach unto all men in general.

So then, let us mark that the sovereignty and tyranny of the devil is a just vengeance of God upon men for their sin. Let that serve for one point. And therefore, let us not imagine that the devil has the reins of the bridle laid loose on his neck or that he has liberty to do what he likes, though God withstands him. But that we are left up and given over unto him. And to the intent we may better know this subjection, St. Paul says that he is in the air, as he will speak more at large again at the end of the Epistle. He could have said simply, "according to the prince that has great power," as our Lord Jesus says that he is the strong man which possesses the world in peace. You see then that the devil is called a prince because he has such power as we are not able to withstand.

And besides that, St. Paul gives him his place in the air. Not that the devils are enclosed in a specific place, for we ourselves see that they enter into men's bodies, even into the bodies of swine, as our Lord gives them leave and power. But he speaks purposely of the air to make us understand that they are above our heads. If we have an enemy, we will see if we can overthrow him. But if he already has his foot upon our throat, if he treads upon our bellies, if he is already upon us, what remedy is there then? None at all on our part. That is why St. Paul speaks here expressly of the air, as if to say that men may well brag and lift up their heads, and be brazen-faced in advancing themselves, but yet the devil is above them with all his power. To be short, he shows that we are utterly given up to that cursed bondage.

To make the matter clearer, he adds "according to the spirit." For what is the reason that we do not perceive the state which he speaks of, but because we are fleshly? If there reigned a tyrant over us who would lay a tax upon us today, another tomorrow, sack men's houses, and the next day cut this man's and that man's throat, ravish men's wives, and commit other enormities and outrages, we would perceive it well enough. And why? Because we are quick to feel the things that touch our flesh, and so earthly that we cannot perceive anything unless it concerns this present life. That is why we do not perceive our own miseries: for they are invisible. We do not think that the devil is such a tyrant, nor as horrible as he is, because we do not see him.

But St. Paul tells us that we must look higher than this world, and that we must have other eyes than those that behold visible things, and that it is necessary for us to look upon the devil, though he is a spirit. And although he has neither arms to strike us with, nor legs to walk with, nor any such other things, yet he fails not to be the worst tyrant that can be devised in the whole world. And why so? Because he enters unseen. If there were a man who could enter into other men's heads and hearts, even into their thoughts and affections, without sword or staff, without venom or poison, without threatening, or anything else, or if he had a hundred deaths in his hand and could make them enter without feeling how: I pray you, would not such an enemy be much more to be feared than such as come furnished with great force and make a great noise? Yes, surely.

Now St. Paul tells us that the devil is such a one, for he is a spirit, says he. So then, let us not be so fleshly as we have been accustomed to be, nor let us judge according to our own rude and foolish fancy when that spiritual enemy is spoken of. But let us assure ourselves that he is able to do us much more mischief without any comparison than if we could see how he came towards us and how he entered into us. So then, forasmuch as he is a spirit, let us be so much more afraid of him.

To the intent that the faithful should be better disposed to come to this foresaid point, that is to say, to know their own confusion until God has provided for it, St. Paul adds yet one more confirmation of his saying. As soon as we have received the faith and are enlightened by God's Holy Spirit, if we have any desire to do well, we shall immediately endeavor to serve our God. And it will seem that that is enough. But if a faithful man looks into himself, he shall find enough to mislike and to sigh and groan for. According as I have told you before, even St. Paul confessed himself to have been unhappy and cried out, "Who shall set me free from this prison of death?" The faithful then shall always find enough in themselves to mourn before God. Yet forasmuch as God has put some goodness, some well- meaning, and some good intent into us, the same half covers the lewdness of our nature, so we do not know for a long time how wretched our state is, so long as we think only upon ourselves, I say, upon ourselves, such as we are after God has partly reformed us by His Holy Spirit.

That is why St. Paul sends us to behold what the unbelievers are. If we look upon the world, we shall see some given to covetousness, and some to pilling and polling, and not only the little thieves that are whipped and hanged, but even such as are robbers in houses, in markets, and in places of justice. We shall see that there is neither faith nor loyalty among most men, but that all men are given to pilling and polling, without any respect of equity or uprightness. We shall see some rush out into whoredom and dishonesty, some into drunkenness, and some into other lewdness and loose behavior. We shall see men rap out oaths, perjuries, and other cursed things.

Again, we shall see secret conveyances, poisonings, spites, malice, treasons, and wicked practices. To be short, we shall see some so devilish that they fling themselves headlong altogether as though they meant to make war willfully against God. These are things that may astonish us. And although we are dull, yet ought we to have some remorse when we see things so far out of order in the world. Nevertheless, St. Paul says that if we consider what is done and how all things are turned topsy-turvy, and what liberty the world takes to withstand God, it behooves us to apply the same to ourselves and to conclude thus: the same should happen to me, yea, even as much as I see in those who are most wretched.

For when we look upon the diseases that are abroad, how some are eaten with cankers and other filthy diseases, and others have as terrible sicknesses as can be, we must ponder upon them and say, "As ill, yea, and worse too, should happen to me if God did not pity me." For all of us do carry the seed of them about us, and that not only in our bodies but also in our souls. For there may be some diversity of complexions so that some shall be stronger and lusher than others, but the soul of man is utterly corrupted and marred. So then the sins that reign in us are all of them warnings to make us cast down our eyes and to be ashamed before God and His angels, yea, and to make us hate and utterly abhor ourselves. Thus you see why St. Paul has added here that the devil works now still. He uses the word "Now," as if he should say, "My friends, if in looking upon your present state, you find anything well, and that keeps you from humbling yourselves thoroughly, and from feeling how miserable you should have been if God had not shown pity and mercy towards you, see what is done about you, see how the unbelievers behave themselves, and you shall find them to be like wild beasts and enemies of their own salvation. You shall find them stark mad against God and against all right. To be short, you shall see such great enormities as shall astonish men and make them say, 'Alas, is it possible that it should be thus?' And so you see what you are."

Say not, "Fie on thee, naughtipack." You may well find fault with such a one, but you must add immediately for a sauce to season it, "How great has God's mercy been towards me?" Then let us never condemn the sin that we see everywhere in other men without considering, "If God had not bridled me, I would have fallen as deeply as I see others have fallen." Therefore let it stir us up immediately to pray that God does not lead us into temptation. Let us acknowledge God's infinite goodness in that it pleases Him to reign over us in such wise that we do not fall into the horrible falls which we see about us. For when we look upon the wickedest in the world, yea, even upon such as we are driven to abhor as monsters, we must (as I said before) conclude thus with ourselves, "Alas, as much should befall us if God remedied it not."

And so you see how we ought to put that lesson into practice. St. Paul speaks expressly of the rebellious children to show that there will be no obedience in us, except God puts it into us, reforms us, changes the naughtiness we were given to before, and continues and increases the goodness that He has begun. Otherwise, Satan has so taken possession of us that he must needs draw us like brute beasts.

It is true that St. Paul adds soon after that this applied not only to the heathen (even though God's grace was most apparent in them) but that even the most excellent men were included in this, and (moreover) that the Jews (who thought themselves to have a singular privilege of exemption from the common curse of men) were also forlorn and damned until they were redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see even better the point we touched on not long ago: that is to say, there is no mention made of any one sort of men alone, but the Holy Ghost thunders upon all men, so that all of us should be beaten down from the least to the most. But this cannot be discussed fully now.

Therefore, we must for conclusion take what St. Paul is teaching: which is that God has quickened us. By this, he means to let us know that we do not bring life with us from our mothers' wombs, but that by reason of sin, we are in death when we come into this world, which is worse than if we were not at all. There is no gainsaying this because we shall not find anything in ourselves but corruption and wickedness, and the more a man stirs it, the more it stinks. We shall be more loath to see the great and deep dungeon of all iniquity which is in us.

Therefore, it stands us in hand to be quickened and to have life given to us, not of nature, but of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we are renewed by Him. We must know that God has taken us out of a wretched and cursed state, and thereby forget all vain glory. Let us not think that we will ever yield to God the praise that He deserves until we abhor all our own wretchedness and come to the point of knowing that the devil reigns over us until God plucks us out of his paws and sets us free from his cursed tyranny.

Is there anything more irksome than to say that we are subject to the devil and that he reigns not only over our bodies, as some worldly tyrant might do, but also over our souls and all our thoughts? For he is a spirit, and there is nothing in us that is not corrupted by him and filled with his poison. Since we know this, let us consider also that God, having found us in that plight, has nonetheless not disdained us, nor let it prevent Him from succouring us. As St. Paul uses the same reasoning when he says that we were God's deadly enemies when Jesus Christ redeemed us.

So let us conclude that God respects nothing but our miseries when He calls us to Him. He does not look to see whether we seek Him or not, for how could that be possible? We draw back entirely. He does not look to see whether we are able to do Him any service or not, for we are rank rebels against Him. He does not look to see whether there is any good inclination in us, for all our thoughts and desires are deadly enemies fighting against His righteousness. What does He look at then? What moves Him to succour us? Even the infinite number of miseries that He finds in us and the horrible confusion in which we are: these are the things that incline God to show us mercy.

So let all mouths be stopped, and let us not presume to bring anything in this matter as though we had bound God to us or that He found something in us for which He should show us favour. For He must take everything from His own, and do all from His own infinite goodness because He sees us miserable, damned, and utterly forlorn. Let that stir us up to do good, and to provide a remedy not only for our diseases but also for our death. For if we were only corrupted with sin and vice, the malady would already be incurable. But besides that, there is a death, yes, a spiritual death, which cannot be recovered by all the means and remedies of the world. God must put His hand to it, and that so mightily, that it may be known that He saves us by a miracle.

And now let us cast ourselves down before the majesty of our good God, with acknowledgment of our sins, praying Him to make us so feel them that we may forsake them, and be rid of them daily more and more. And that in the meantime, He of His goodness will bear with us, and not examine us too strictly, but by little and little abate and correct the naughtiness that reigns too much in us, and not suffer us to be slaves to Satan, but set us free by our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom we hold all our spiritual freedom. And so let us all say, Almighty God, heavenly Father, etc.